


The Rehabilitation of Charlie Hesketh

by JayEz



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Canon, M/M, Post-Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Spoilers, soon-to-be-past Eggsy/Tilde
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 01:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12158496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayEz/pseuds/JayEz
Summary: He doesn’t break Charlie’s neck.He whacks the tosser over the head real good, knocking him out in an instance – but he doesn’t kill him, as much as he wants to.Merlin trained the bloke.Merlin saw the potential in him just like Harry saw it in Eggsy.If Merlin’s gonna have a legacy, Eggsy decides, it’s gonna live on in the rehabilitation of Charlie Hesketh.*[Marked complete, but might be expanded on in the future.]





	The Rehabilitation of Charlie Hesketh

**Author's Note:**

> While The Golden Circle really wasn’t what I’d expected it to be, I can’t really say yet whether I liked the film as a whole because my mind’s been going “OMG CHARLIE!” since the movie began. 
> 
> This practically wrote itself on the way home. Literally :)

He doesn’t break Charlie’s neck.

He whacks the tosser over the head real good, knocking him out in an instance – but he doesn’t kill him, as much as he wants to. 

Merlin trained the bloke. 

Merlin saw the potential in him just like Harry saw it in Eggsy. 

If Merlin’s gonna have a legacy, Eggsy decides, it’s gonna live on in the rehabilitation of Charlie Hesketh.

*

“Ain’t gonna work.”

“Shut it, Tequila.”

The cowboy’s still shaking head, like Eggsy’s gonna care what he thinks. Bloody wanker. First criticising their wardrobe, then wearing it like a second skin. First attacking him with skipping rope, then joining him for a pint with Jamal and Liam, offering to babysit Daisy, and getting along great with Tilde. 

Stupid cowboy. 

“You seriously think Robocop here would switch sides?”

“Wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t, now, would I?” Eggsy shoots back. 

“He blew up his girlfriend,” Tequila reminds him. “You chaps rejected him for a reason.” 

“Merlin believed in him.”

“Bullshit. Merlin didn’t believe in any of you. If he’s anything like Ginger, he’s big on actions and damn, did that one-armed son of a bitch screw y’all over.” 

Eggsy grits his teeth. 

To be honest, he can’t really say why he’s so dead set on this. Maybe it’s cause all everyone’s been talking about is second chances – them addicts and experimenters, after their blue-veined 'coming out', really kicked off a public debate on accountability and ... stuff. 

Roxy could finish that sentence. She’d have a lot of opinions on this, complete with historical context and socio-political implications. 

Fuck, he misses her.

 _Or maybe,_ a voice whispers in his head, _you just need a distraction, lad._

The voice sounds suspiciously like Merlin.

“How’s Tilde?” Tequila asks.

Eggsy can feel a nerve jump in his jaw. 

“Still royally pissed? And I mean that in the ‘furious you had your fingers up another girl’s pussy’ sort of pissed, not the ‘three sheets to the wind’ kind of pissed you Brits think it means for some crazy reason.”

Eggsy’s nostrils flare. 

“Get it?” Tequila adds with a chuckle. “ _Royally_ pissed?” 

“Yeah, dickhead, I get it, you’re a real Stephen Fry. Now shut it.”

The guy throws up his hands. “Alright. But if this comes back to bite you in the _arse_ ,” Tequila tells him, “then don't go bitchin’ to me.” 

*

Charlie is strapped in tight. No way he’s getting out of that chair. Not with just one arm. Or a metal one, for the record. 

Eggsy’s mind flashes back to watching _The Winter Soldier_ with Roxy and it’s like a knife to the chest. 

Charlie is still glaring. Hasn’t stopped, as a matter of fact, since he came to back on English soil after they'd kept him in a coma for a bit while they were recuperating and giving Stateman’s staggering resources time to work their magic. Then it took a couple o' days to convince Champ to let Eggsy try this. 

But yeah. Glaring. Lots of it. And it’s only intensified once Charlie caught sight of Eggsy. 

He hasn’t said a word yet, however.

Staring match it is, then. Eggsy can do that. 

It gets boring pretty quickly.

They’re in an interrogation room, grey this time instead of white, but still the standard Statesman design. The bed’s in the corner and a single chair has been screwed to the floor. Eggsy is sure one of the agency’s many minions is watching them through the surveillance glass – but that’s unimportant. 

Unlike the fact that Charlie isn’t even straining against the cuffs. He just sits there and glares. 

“Why work for her?” Eggsy asks eventually, when the silence skews from annoying to tedious. “For Poppy? Just cause she fixed your arm?”

It takes Charlie ages to determine whether to reply or not. Eggsy almost up and left twice before the bloke clears his throat and shrugs.

“You didn’t notice she’s a psychopath?”

“Of course I did, don’t be daft.” Charlie snaps. He even adds a petulant eye roll. 

It’s seriously creepy, how symmetrically the tables have turned. 

“Then why’d you join her?”

Charlie considers Eggsy for several heartbeats before averting his eyes. “My whole family had implants. I’m the only one who survived –”

 _Thanks to me,_ Eggsy thinks bitterly. He might also have mumbled it under his breath. 

Cue more glaring.

Then, Charlie heaves a sigh. 

“Becoming a Kingsman was my dream. After I failed... I had nothing left.” 

“Ha, except that silver spoon up your arse, bruv.”

“Not like I had any choice about how I was born,” Charlie hisses. “It’s time you take that sodding chip off your shoulder, _bruv_.”

The phrase bounces around in Eggsy's head, the same words Merlin used oh-so long ago. The criticism is jarring only until Eggsy recognises his opening, plain as day for him to seize, win Kingsman another agent, and commemorate Merlin.

“If we give you a reason," he begins slowly, "if we give you something to be loyal to, d’you think you’d want to become one again?” 

Charlie’s eyes widen. Eggsy catches a glimpse of desperate hope before the git squashes it again and schools his expression. 

“I figured you’d lock me up and throw away the keys.”

“That’s plan B,” Eggsy concedes. He blows out a breath. “So… how about it?”

Charlie blinks at him. "Really? You'd release me?" 

He nods.

"And then what? Group exercises and training till you're sure I won't kill you in your sleep?"

“Something like that.”

Truth is, Eggsy hasn’t thought that far ahead.

“You’re an even bigger oaf than I thought you were,” Charlie scoffs. 

Eggsy cocks an eyebrow. “That a yes?”

Another eye roll. But Charlie has visibly mellowed. “Fine. 'S not like I’m swimming in alternatives here.” 

And for the first time since Doomsday, Eggsy finds himself grinning because he means it.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Note 07/2018:** Thank you for reading! ♥   
>  While it was conceived of as a multi-chaptered fic, I think this also works as a oneshot. This was intended to have multiple chapters, but I lack both the time and inspiration to continue this in the foreseeable future. I think it works as a oneshot, too, though! Either way, apologies for not continuing this, but I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
